A new diagnosis of dementia takes place every four seconds - making it now more feared than cancer by families up and down the country.

It also has the potential to bankrupt healthcare systems globally, as before too long the number of people with dementia will pass one million in the UK and 50 million across the world.

These stark facts prompt two questions. First, how should we as a society respond to this condition? Secondly, how can the NHS and social care system help improve care for those families living with dementia right now?

On the latter, I believe we are finally starting to make good progress. This Government has doubled funding to find a cure, challenged the NHS to improve shockingly low diagnosis rates, and is making more money available to improve dementia services.

In December last year the Prime Minister brought together global leaders with scientists, researchers, charities and pharmaceutical companies at the first ever G8 Dementia Summit in London to mobilise international effort in tackling what he described as the 'quiet crisis’.

Ronald Reagan once said the nine most terrifying words in the English language were “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” So we should be humble enough to recognise that whilst there is a vital role for governments, they alone cannot crack this - we need to tackle stigma and misunderstanding about dementia across society as a whole.

Have you ever felt impatient with an older person ahead of you in a queue fumbling for change? Or annoyed at someone walking too slowly as they try to navigate round an underground station? I have - and if this can happen in what may be one of the politest and kindest countries in the world, then we all need to get better at recognising what may well be someone fighting a horrible battle to live with dementia.

In short, we need to rethink the social contract when it comes to older people.

In Asian countries like China and Japan you still find many more older people living with their children, although in these places too this has come under pressure recently. Having Mum and Dad at home won’t always be the right solution - but it’s not automatically the wrong one either.

And even if they don’t live with you, we know that neural pathways in the brain are strengthened by regular contact with friends and family in a way that can slow the onset of dementia. In non-medical language, love helps.

It’s also why the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends programme is so important. This helps people to learn what it’s like to live with dementia - and then to turn that understanding into action.

A short session of less than an hour, either face-to-face or online, helps you understand how someone with dementia sees the world. That understanding helps bring out our individual empathy and compassion - and if enough people do it, society will slowly start to change.

Socially responsible businesses like Marks & Spencer, Argos, Lloyds Bank and Lloyds Pharmacy have already committed to rolling out the Dementia Friends programme amongst their employees, which is hugely welcome.

More than a quarter of a million people have pledged to become Dementia Friends - and we hope to have a million by 2015. On Wednesday, the next stage of the campaign will begin as celebrities and those living with dementia team up to encourage more of us to become Dementia Friends.

I recently asked the manager of a care home in London how she motivates staff working with residents whose dementia is so advanced they can’t speak.

She told me that making a resident smile, even if they won’t remember that smile the next day, sends her home with an even bigger smile on her face. So part of this campaign must be to recognise the vital role played by carers and families looking after people with dementia.

An academic once said that compassion “is not a necessary component of healthcare.” What rubbish. Compassionate care must be hard-wired into our health and care system, as we learnt from the tragedy of Mid Staffs. But not just in our hospitals and care homes - we need it everywhere when it comes to dementia. Only people power will do.